Combat
Combat occurs when your units engage a group of enemy units. This can be part of a Campaign against the Dark Alliance or when you invade or defend against an invasion by of your friends. All units of one side in an engagement is either on land, sea or air. Land, sea and air units are a member of one of 3 classes. Units within the same class have colorful names and graphics that may suggest they have special capabilities that others of the class do not have. This is not the case. The only item besides class that is relevant to combat is the unit's "Health" number. This affects both the unit's offensive and defensive strength. Class is relevant to combat since an exchange between units of different classes is patterned after rock, paper, scissors. To illustrate, Soldiers, Carriers and Bombers have an advantage over Artillery, Battleships and Airships, which have an advantage over Tanks, Gunboats and Fighters which have an advantage over Soldiers, Carriers and Bombers. At the beginning of Combat, the player selects a group of units to use in battle. The number and type of units you can select depends on the Campaign. During Invasions, the player can field up to five units. You can select any unit you currently own or buy a unit for Empire Points. During combat, you select one unit to fire each round. To select which unit you want to fire, click that unit. When that unit is highlighted, it is outlined in blue. Every shot fired costs one Energy. After selecting the unit you want to fire, you select a target. To do this, hold your mouse pointer over the enemy unit you want to attack. The unit you hold the mouse pointer over is outlined in red. When you do this, the game displays the chances of hitting the target as Poor, Good, or Great. To attack the target, click the enemy unit and watch the bullets fly! Damage in combat is determined by how you hit the target. How much damage depends on the strength of the unit, the type of unit being attacked, and the kind of hit. The first kind of hit is a Glancing hit. Glancing hits always do at least one point of damage. The second kind of hit is a Direct hit. Direct hits inflict more damage than Glancing hits. The third kind of hit is a Critical hit, which does the most damage (1.5 times a Direct hit), potentially killing the target in one shot. If you have an advantage over a particular unit, you will be more likely to score Critical hits. If you have no advantage or disadvantage then you are more likely to score a Direct hit. If you have a disadvantage against a unit, you will be more likely to score a Glancing blow. During combat, if any of your units’ hit points drop to their last chunk, you see a green cross next to the unit’s health bar. Clicking this cross heals ALL the life points for the unit at the cost of two Empire Points per use, but doing so forfeits the option to fire on the enemy for that round. At the end of combat, if you win you receive a reward. If you lose, you can retreat, rematch, invite friends as allies, or request gifts from your friends. Along with the satisfaction of victory, there are a lot of rewards you can earn from combat. The biggest source of rewards for Combat comes in the form of Combat drops. Combat drops come from enemy units damaged during a battle. How much a combat drop pays out depends on the kind of hit you score. Glancing hits drop XP. Direct hits drop XP and a Coin reward. Critical Hits and Kills drop multiple Coins, XP, Energy, and Ore. Keep an eye on your bonus bar during the fight: this fills up from your successful hits, similar to normal game play. If you win a Campaign mission, in addition to the combat drops, you receive the victory reward. The reward appears in a pop-up window and gives Coins, XP, and Ore. Advanced topics How is damage calculated? The following formula approximates how damage is calculated during combat. Possibly the unrounded intermediate steps aren't used, and further research may reveal a more accurate formula. ROUND(IF(A=B,ROUND(B/4,0),ROUNDUP(0.25*(3*A+B)/(B*3+A)*B,0))*(3*B+C)/(3*C+B),0) Where: A=Your Unit's Max Health B=Enemy's Max Health C=Enemy's Current Health Critical is the above *1.5 Glancing Blow is the above *.1 Damage research is the above * 1.25 *See also Damage Calculator.